Mandjoogoordap, as Mandurah is known to the indigenous Noongar people, lies sun-drenched along the vast Peel Harvey Estuary, the glittering Indian Ocean, the lazy Serpentine and Murray rivers and many chic canals. Road signs in English and Noongar greet the numerous visitors: "Welcome – Wandjoo Baalap".
Built upon dunes surrounded by flowering eucalypts and grass trees, still swamps and mirror-like lakes, Mandurah is, at first glance, a paradise. Residents kayak the rivers, enjoy champagne and sight dolphins from the decks of their boats, create fine white sandcastles beneath brilliant skies, and watch stalking ibises and squalling galahs in their gardens of grevilleas, banksias and hakeas.
Yet it's what resides in the 600 hectares of saltmarsh habitat after high tidal flooding that has locals up in arms. The tiny creatures Aedes vigilax and Aedes camptorhynchus are persistent, abundant and evasive.
They're mosquitoes. They aren't only annoying; they're also a public health hazard.
They carry the debilitating Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses, for which there are neither vaccinations nor cures.
Locals have to learn to live with them.
Tammera lives in Baldivis surrounded by lakes, vineyards and national parks. "Mosquitoes don't stop people from moving to the Mandurah region. It's the lifestyle we love," she reflects. Considering her impending move southward to Erskine along the Peel Harvey Estuary, where mosquitoes are more numerous, she continues: "I don't know how we'll manage. It's not just about 'don't go out at dusk'. Mosquitoes bite all day."
Joe, a keen gardener, says that sometimes the Aedes vigilax mosquitoes are "like a plague. When I'm outside, I wear gloves, long clothes, boots, a hat and a protective head net. I spray repellant, but the mosquitoes bite me through my socks, and often manage to fly inside my shirt."
Phil, a Melbournian, regularly visits his family in Mandurah. "It's picture-postcard pretty," he says with a grin. "But with all the mozzies, I wouldn't want to live there. "
Every week Guardian Weekly publishes a Letter from one of its readers from around the world. We welcome submissions – they should focus on giving a clear sense of a place and its people. Please send them to weekly.letter.from@theguardian.com
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